The Reverend Hunter Podcast

Tony sits down with Jan Dizard, retired professor of sociology at Amherst College and author of several books on hunting, including "Hunting: A Cultural History" (MIT Press, 2022). They discuss hunters at Amherst, non-utilitarian views of nature and animals, struggling R3 efforts, growing up in Duluth, hunting by two rivers, the spiritual attachment that human beings have to food, the mortal stakes of hunting, growing uneasy with killing as you age, the Rinella/Hanes/Rogan effect on hunting, de-fetishizing technology, the moral compact that the hunter has with the animal s/he is pursuing, and more. Find Jan's latest book here: https://amzn.to/3W0SgkP Find Tony's new book at GodOfWildPlaces.com https://reverendhunter.com/

In this special episode, Tony reads from his new book, "The God of Wild Places," at the book launch event on April 2. He tells a harrowing story of getting caught in a storm with his kids in the boat. Find Tony's new book at GodOfWildPlaces.com https://reverendhunter.com/

Tony talks with Jerusalem Greer, author of "At Home in this Life," and executive director of Procter Camp and Conference Center. Topics include living on the Darby Plains, rewilding projects, something not clicking in the city, Phyllis Tickle, needing to get to the land, a theology of place, being an early mommy blogger, staring at our spiritual bellybuttons, the growth of wild churches, the hunger to be connected, zhuzhing, and more. Find Jerusalem at GodOfWildPlaces.com https://reverendhunter.com/

Tony sits down at PheasantFest in Sioux Falls to talk with Tim Brown, the "Bearded Uplander." Topics include having an angry gall bladder, hunting in a blizzard, released pheasants, shooting a turkey on the wing, the ethics of hunting, scoring a deer, not having a bird dog, thanking farmers with a 30-pack of Busch Light, hunting on Sundays, taking kids turkey hunting, snakes, and more. Find Tim at https://beardeduplander.com/ And find Tony's new book at GodOfWildPlaces.com https://reverendhunter.com/

John Dailey is a retired Marine and the author of the forthcoming book, Tough, Rugged Bastards. He talks with Tony about his parents’ conversion, having a holy roller pastor dad, being scared of God, how the Marine Corps is somewhat cult-like, boot camp indoctrination, 9/11 in Darwin Australia, waiting for bad guys outside of Kandahar, a big truck full of Taliban coming across the road, the correlation between sex and killing, the crisis of masculinity, when fiction is truer than the truth. Find out more about John, his book, and his Substack newsletters at https://www.jadailey.com/ https://reverendhunter.com/

Fisher Neal is the "Hunting Actor," and the founder of Learn to Hunt New York. Fisher talks with Tony about hunting being foundational to his identity, growing up in a church that frowned upon clapping, moving to New Jersey, the use of crossbows, how it's morally superior to use the most effective weapon available, being the most prolific hunting mentor in the U.S., the Austrian last meal, appearing on Law & Order, and much more. Find Fisher at https://reverendhunter.com/

Tony sits down with upland hunting zealot and writer Mike Neiduski, and they discuss growing up in Worchester, Mass., writing poetry, stopping writing poetry, getting a German Wirehair Pointer, training dogs so that you can hunt year-round, letting it rip, divorce and dead dogs, growing up Catholic, writing about grief, becoming an entrepreneur, and more. Find Mike's writing here: https://www.instagram.com/mneiduski/, and find the company he just acquired here: www.uglydoghunting.com https://reverendhunter.com/

Tony talks with Julia Schrenkler, subject of the Franchi film, "Old Dog / New Dog," about how her dog recruited her into hunting, post-Wegman confusion, how you can't just look at puppies, watching your dog bring you a pigeon for the first time, the eyelash rule, the tailgate of death, cultivating reverence, making your own mistakes, hunting out of a VW Vanagon, the partnership of dogs, and more. See the film here: https://youtu.be/mnwTzt4pHgQ?si=F5YHoEhDKyX7XXAN https://reverendhunter.com/

Tony and Brandon welcome 2024 with some thoughts about what's coming up on the podcast and in their lives. https://reverendhunter.com/

Tony sits down with Tripp Fuller, author of several books and founder and host of the world's most popular theology podcast, Homebrewed Christianity. They talk about growing up as a rural Baptist preacher's kid, seeing crooked, offering a Whopper to a Jain and making her cry, the ethics of eating pork, epiphenomenology, life being more complex than we think, our complicity in suffering and death, having permission to be screwed up and working on it, polyamorous elements in the periodic table, Advent asking us to pause, the moral universe of The Lord of the Rings, and much more. Find all of Tripp's work at https://trippfuller.com/. Learn more about the Emerged project with Tripp and Tony here: https://homebrewedchristianity.lpages.co/emerged-an-oral-history-of-the-emerging-church-movement/

Tony chats with hunter, angler, and essayist Johnny Carrol Sain about Mississippi pot roast, flying with elk meat, the danger of removing ourselves from the processes of the world, the inevitability of being eaten when we die, feeling things deeply, weeping over dead deer, hunting as core to who we are, becoming intimate with the animals we kill, and more. Read Johnny's writings at https://jcarrolsain.substack.com/, read his essay "To the Bone" here: https://jcarrolsain.substack.com/p/to-the-bone, read "Death by any other name" here: https://jcarrolsain.substack.com/p/death-by-any-other-name, and watch his short film here: https://www.pbs.org/video/to-the-bone-z49ecu/ https://reverendhunter.com/

Tony talks with Bob Herbst, who had a legendary career in conservation, culminating as Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Tony talks with Bob about keeping Minnesota green, denying an airport in Ham Lake, protecting Lake Superior from taconite tailings, taking a sauna with Sigurd Olson, conservation as a never-ending process, Sigurd's writing shack, Jimmy Carter tying his own flies, protecting 115 million acres in Alaska, growing up in a family of Lutheran pastors, great fishing trips, and more. https://reverendhunter.com/ Brought to you by Grain Belt Premium Beer (https://www.grainbelt.com/)

Tony sits down with Aaron Hebeisen, Chapter Coordinator of IA, IL, MN, MO, and WI for Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. They discuss growing up in Mora, Minnesota, the awesomeness of Irish Setter boots, deer camp traditions, canoe hunting, elk hunting, finding God inside and outside of church, assortments of ball caps, vegetarians vs. veterinarians, hitting the pipe, and a big announcement about BHA Rendezvous coming to Minnesota! Learn more about Aaron and BHA at https://www.backcountryhunters.org/chapter_coordinator_il_ia_mn_mo_and_wi and find him on Instagram at @hey_bison https://reverendhunter.com/ Brought to you by Grain Belt Premium Beer (https://www.grainbelt.com/)

Tony talks with outdoorsman, writer, and marine, Russell Worth Parker, about marine vs. Marine, "might could," pulling items out of dogs' anuses, writing without a pitch letter, doing this thing that thing and the other thing, becoming a writer, the military-civilian gap, the lack of battle epiphanies, how military and clergy are similar, not understanding the misery of war, and much, much more. Find Worth at https://russellworthparker.com/, read his essays from Garden & Gun at https://gardenandgun.com/author/russell-worth-parker/, and find him on Instagram at @worth.parker and @b00kwar

Jason Micheli is a Methodist pastor, podcast host, Substacker, and author of Cancer Is Funny. He talks with Tony about living with cancer, not being able to hear animals scream, the end that will summarize the story of you, our modern cathedrals, when the science ends and the dying begins, discovering that the Bible is interesting, becoming more Christian, the war in Israel, the astonishing pristineness the BWCA, the difference between exercise and labor, and much more. Find Jason at https://jasonmicheli.substack.com/ https://reverendhunter.com/ Brought to you by Grain Belt Premium Beer (https://www.grainbelt.com/)

Tony's guest is Rev. Dr. Todd Littleton, a Baptist pastor in Oklahoma. Todd joined Tony on a canoe trip to the BWCA recently, and they talk about their shared experiences, paddling for the first time in 50 years, the importance of pilgrimage, lakes and trees and stillness and quiet, how hard it is to describe the BWCA, uncontrollability, finding subversive things, a long obedience in the same direction, and more. Find Todd at https://www.toddlittleton.net/, and find Rosa's book on uncontrollability here: https://amzn.to/3X7RQbf https://reverendhunter.com/ Brought to you by Grain Belt Premium Beer (https://www.grainbelt.com/)

Jessica Carew Kraft is the author of "Why We Need to be Wild: One Woman's Quest for Ancient Answers to 21st Century Problems." Tony talks with her about watching her mother die of MS, the epiphany of a beehive, what it means for a species to be successful, the rewilding movement, living like the Pleistocene, being called by ancestral wisdom, converting to Judaism then away from it, the importance of social ties, when kids discover the wonder, how the whole idea of the world is a little absurd, Rod Carew, and more. Find Jessica at https://www.jessicacarewkraft.com/ and buy her book here: https://amzn.to/44YH35I https://reverendhunter.com/ Brought to you by: Caldera Lab (https://calderalab.com/REVHUNT)

Tony talks with fly fisherman and essayist, David N. McIlvaney, about growing up in a Canadian steel town, a grandfather who was conscripted into the Russian army, the strike of a salmon and death, picking up a flyrod at age 50, a cabin the Catskills, being peers with nature, Andy Griffith experiences, a thousand ways not to shoot a deer, how standing in a river is redemptive, and more. Read David's essay, "A More Perfect Day of Fishing" here: https://www.hatchmag.com/blog/more-perfect-day-fishing/ and find him on Instagram at @the_real_dnm. https://reverendhunter.com/ Brought to you by: Caldera Lab (https://calderalab.com/REVHUNT)

Tony sits down with social psychologist Jeff Green to talk about our attachment to dogs. Discussed topics include Jeff's longstanding love of chinchillas, the co-evolution of dogs and humans, our tendency to underestimate animals, consciousness and cognition, whether dogs feel happy or sad, why we grieve when dogs die, and more. https://reverendhunter.com/

Tony talks with conservationist, hunter, angler, and author John Motoviloff about St. Seraphim, studying Heidegger, truth as disclosive, how forgetting lunch led to a life of hunting, watching ducks pitch in, recruiting new hunters, the butterfly effect, putting sturgeon before rabbit, the order of the natural world, the woods as an icon, and more. Find John's book here: https://amzn.to/41mLAN6 https://reverendhunter.com/